Beautiful Grand Canyon, Northern New Mexico and Arizona

It's been awhile since I've posted trip pictures and now I'm going overboard. I've been busy driving, sight-seeing, and it seems like when I've had extra time, I'm in a location with no cell signal. Here's what I've been up to:

Albuquerque

I thought Albuquerque was a beautiful city. One of my favorite places was a city park (where Charley was happy to see green grass again for the first time in days). The park had walking paths, swings and play equipment for kids, ball sports courts, a mini theatre area, fantastic art installations, and was surrounded by Old Town Albuquerque with shops and a historic public square, the New Mexico Museum of Natural History, and the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History. Of the many statues throughout the park, the largest commemorated the Spanish exploration and founding of the modern city. Just a small part of this compilation of statues is shown in these photos:

To Santa Fe and the High Road to Taos

I drove the Turquoise Trail from Albuquerque to Santa Fe and enjoyed the shops and downtown area there. Then I drove the High Road to Taos, which took me over scenic hills and eventually revealed beautiful views of the Taos area.

San Jose de Gracia Church (1760) on the High Road to Taos

Look familiar? The church that inspired Ansel Adams and Georgia O'Keefe at Ranchos de Taos.

When I'm going to spend time in a specific location, I try to do a web search on "what to do" or "must see" in the area. I learned that the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge was a popular walk for people who can handle heights. Now I hate to be in precarious situations in high places, but when I feel perfectly safe on a structure, I'm okay. So I was ready to head that direction, only to find out that on the way, the Taos Mesa Brewing Company was having a Friday night Jazz and Poetry night. So I had my next destination, but that would get me to the bridge at night-time. No problem, since there was a nice rest area at the bridge, just a couple miles down from the brewery. Perfect for a free overnight stay and a sunrise bridge walk.

The photo doesn't give justice to the perspective of the sudden plunge down to the Rio Grande, and the beauty of the morning sun cast across it. I was amazed to see a bighorn sheep walking along one of the ledges of the canyon, and then up to the top.

I had originally intended to return to Santa Fe on the Low Road to Taos, but while in Santa Fe, I talked to a woman who was visiting and she recommended that I head out to Ojo Caliente Hot Springs, given the general direction I was traveling. It was reasonably priced and had a campground on the property, so went that way via the dirt/gravel road down into the canyon through a small part of the Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument.

Part-way down the hill, I stopped for a little hike with Charley to a river overlook, where we had our second bighorn sheep sighting of the day (we had a third sighting in another location.) At this site, I just stopped and watched for awhile, while eight more sheep came up over the small ridge.

What're YOU looking at?

I looked over the camping areas down in the canyon, trying to decide where to spend the night. At one campground I entered, I drove through, then got out to walk the dog, and two older guys driving out of the campground stopped and rolled down their windows. One of them asked if I was planning to camp here. I told him I was thinking about it. He looked around and then said, "I guess this'll be a safe place." Through my conversation with them, I got the impression they were concerned about a woman who was clearly traveling alone. They asked about where I was headed, and I try to be pretty general about answering and said eventually going to the Grand Canyon. The passenger asked if I'd heard of Canyon de Chelly. He recommended that area was almost as spectacular to see as the Grand Canyon. Our conversation finished with them jokingly asking if I had any fish to share. They wanted to return to their campground giving their wives the impression they hadn't been skunked that afternoon.

I decided not to camp in the canyon and headed towards the Ojo Caliente Hot Springs to stay at the campground there. The hot springs boasted several pools of four different mineral waters (although one was closed and being rebuilt). I had a day of alternately relaxing in the pools, laying out in the sun reading, and enjoying the steam bath, where the sage/juniper steam was great for my allergies. The pool area was incredible at night, with dim lighting on the cliffsides and an open view of the starry sky.

Canyon de Chelly

By now I was in Navajo country in northeast Arizona. Canyon de Chelly was spectacular as advertised. The National Monument guide helpfully suggested that the North Rim was the best drive in the morning light and the South Rim was best in the afternoon light, so I had my tour directions, and set out to stop at each of the overlooks, which all had different sights to offer of the farmland below.



 

See the cliff dwelling ruins just below center of the photo?

Ruins of one of many cliff dwellings in the canyon

Spider Rock

Many of the overlooks had these walls with drainage holes built in. Charley had to stick his face into each of the holes. I wasn't sure if it was to enjoy the peep-hole view of the canyon (he also would stand on his hind legs to look over the rock walls) or if it was because all the holes smelled like squirrel.



And Now I'm at the Grand Canyon

 

I've only seen a third of the south rim of the Grand Canyon so far, but I've seen some amazing views.

Watchtower at the east end of the park

Inside the watchtower

Views from the watchtower

I've got the luxury of time to stop at all the overlooks and see all the views

Hmm. There's a person out on that rock. Wonder what the view looks like from there.

This is what the view from that rock looks like, looking down from as close to the edge as I'm willing to get.



Another view from the rock. Weather's starting to come in.

Charley's a little dare-devil mountain goat. Here he's out next to the edge, sniffing another hole. He seems to know he's safe enough when I've got a death grip on his leash. I did notice at one point on another ledge, he went out to the edge, looked down, then immediately backed away a bit. He's been loving getting out to see all the sights and sniffing all the wild animal smells.

The words of Theodore Roosevelt,

...let this great wonder of nature remain as it now is. Do nothing to mar its grandeur, sublimity and loveliness. You cannot improve on it. But what you can do is to keep it for your children, your children's children, and all who come after you, as the one great sight which every American should see. 

I'm camping at the Mather Campground inside the park. It's very cold, but I'm glad I'm here now because it sounds like the crowds are really bad during the summer. There are such gorgeous views, and I can only imagine what the view from the bottom of the canyon looks like (a Colorado River rafting trip would be exciting in a warmer time of year).

It snowed overnight!

Charley loved playing around in the fresh snow

Next Steps

I'll be at the Grand Canyon one or two more nights. After that I'm thinking about the Sedona area, then will head toward Laughlin, NV.